Sisanda Magala — unfit. Aiden Markram — not fulfilling his talent. Heinrich Klaasen — not good enough. Temba Bavuma — shouldn’t be there.
Not so long ago that was the narrative around players in the national team. In fact perspectives about South African cricket generally tilted towards the negative. Which was perfectly understandable. The national men’s team — still the most watched cricket side in the country — was bobbing along in a sea of mediocrity in the second half of last year, having lost Test series in England and Australia, the latter comprehensively.
The T20 World Cup last November held much promise and then the team suffered a meltdown against the Netherlands and failed to qualify for the semifinals as a result. Bavuma cut a tragic figure upon his return to the country. Qualification for the 50-over World Cup was made tougher by Cricket South Africa’s decision to cancel an ODI series with Australia, to have all the nationally contracted players back in the country for the new SA20 tournament.
There’d been losses to Bangladesh at home last year; Sri Lanka and Ireland the year before. The Proteas appeared headed for an ICC qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in the middle of 2023 when pitches in Harare and Bulawayo would be “tired”, and even though facing lower-ranked opposition, those teams would know and pick away at the mental fragility the Dutch so expertly exposed in Adelaide.
They may yet end up in Zimbabwe — but it will take Ireland to perform miraculously in three ODIs against Bangladesh next month. Any loss for the Irish in that series, a rained-out match or a failure to surpass SA’s net run rate on the Super League log, will result in the Proteas earning the last automatic qualification spot in India later this year.
Even if the Proteas do end up in Zimbabwe, however, there is a sense now that they would not shy away from attacking that tournament. Bavuma spoke openly of his acceptance that they may go there, which illustrated the new attitude of the side.
The tentativeness that was so apparent in that home series against Bangladesh last year, and lack of focus and the inconsistency that bred, has given way to a team that now talks about playing freely, that is willing to accept it will make mistakes but is firm in their support of one another despite those errors.
“We are on the right track, the more we play and the more we bump our heads and figure things out, it will keep guiding us in the right direction,” Markram said.
‘Sisi’ is a very basic guy. If he’s got backing, he is going to break his back for you.
— Markram
Central to the revival has been Bavuma, who is playing like a man finally unshackled. He has scored three hundreds and an unbeaten 90 in the two formats in which he leads the team. That he has accepted the new ethos and illustrated it in the manner he has through performances has lifted the rest of the team.
“A guy like Temba is a wonderful human being, he’s a great advert for our country,” new limited overs coach Rob Walter said.
“It’s wonderful to be sharing a changeroom with him, and that he is playing exceptional cricket is a cherry on top for a guy who deserves that and is certainly not given enough credit for what he has gone through.”
Bavuma has admitted he has felt more support in the past few months than at any stage in the past three years. That’s a familiar theme, which Markram touched on when talking about Sisanda Magala.
“‘Sisi’ is a very basic guy. If he’s got backing, he is going to break his back for you,” said Markram, who was Magala’s captain at the Sunrisers Eastern Cape during the SA20.
“He’s felt that backing and through a few performances, naturally players feel like they belong at this level and they can compete, which he has shown a few times. It’s great for him to get these achievements especially given the history he has had in this environment. The guys love him, he is great value in the changeroom, every guy loves it when he gets success.”
There will be an inclination from cynics to point out that the opposition recently was “only” the West Indies and “only” the Netherlands.. England, too, weren’t pressing too hard in that One-Day series as they’re still experimenting for the World Cup.
However, SA needed to create a new outlook and what has taken place since January has really been about them and no-one else. Players who weren’t good enough, unfit and not fulfilling their talent have a renewed focus — and for now that deserves praise.
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